(My Sportsbook) - It's safe to the say Milwaukee's acquisition of starting pitcher CC Sabathia has paid dividends and the big left-hander will try to stay perfect in a Brewers uniform tonight in the opener of a three-game series versus the Houston Astros at Miller Park.

Sabathia was dealt to the Brewers from the Cleveland Indians in early July with hopes of leading Milwaukee to the postseason. In eight starts so far for the NL Wild Card-leading Brewers, Sabathia is 7-0 with four complete games, two of which have been shutouts, and a 1.55 earned run average.

The former first-round draft pick of the Indians in 1998 previously pitched on August 13 at San Diego, allowing just one run on nine hits through seven frames of his team's 7-1 victory. Sabathia, who has lasted at least six innings in each of his Milwaukee starts, has won three straight outings to improve to 13-8 with a 3.04 ERA in 26 overall starts this season.

Milwaukee owns a two-game lead over St. Louis in the Wild Card standings, but has lost three of its past four games. In Sunday's 7-5 setback to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game series, Brewers starter Jeff Suppan lasted six innings and yielded four runs in the no-decision. Carlos Villanueva surrendered a pair of runs in relief to absorb the loss.

Ryan Braun recorded a two-run homer, Mike Cameron added a solo shot and Ray Durham finished with two RBI in defeat.

The Brewers will open a six-game homestand on Monday and are 36-23 at Miller Park in 2008. They have won four in a row as the host.

Houston has been playing some solid baseball lately and will take its show on the road in tonight's opener of a seven-game road trip at Milwaukee and the New York Mets. The Astros ended a brief two-game slide and won for the ninth time in 11 tries with Sunday's 3-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of a three-game series at Minute Maid Park.

Starter Roy Oswalt tossed eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball and Ty Wigginton's three-run homer in the opening frame provided all the scoring, as the Astros avoided a three-game sweep. Oswalt walked two and matched his season-high with 10 strikeouts before Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 31st save in 37 chances.

Wigginton had three hits to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games. He went 9-for-12 in the series with two home runs, two doubles, a triple and five RBI, and is batting .514 with four homers and 14 RBI over his last 10 games.

Randy Wolf gets the nod for the 'Stros on Monday and is 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA in four starts with Houston. Acquired from San Diego late last month, Wolf recently took the hill on August 13 versus San Francisco and pitched seven innings of two-run ball for the win.

The left-hander will face Milwaukee for the second time this season after a subpar outing in the first meeting. Wolf was reached for four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings of an 11-6 victory, but did not factor in the outcome.

In 15 career starts against the Brewers, Wolf is 5-3 with a 4.00 earned run average.

The 2008 season series between the Astros and Brewers is tied at six wins apiece. Houston has won two of the last three matchups.